When Darkness Falls
by Miranda Alexis
Summary: What would happen if the Vampaneze paired up with the Death Eaters? What if Darren and Harry were BOTH the Chosen ones? Perhaps either Darren or Steve really do become the Lord of the Shadows? They would surely need a Princess to accompany them.
1. Chapter 1

**When Darkness Falls**

Prologue:

I could start off by saying that life is such a bore. But truly, it isn't. It's filled with surprising twists and turns, friends and foes…and much, much more. My life started off just as normal as any teenager's. Until the day those two boys entered my class. My name is Miranda Lynch. That's actually not even my real name, but I dare not expose too much of my personal information out to the world. I did though, decide to post up my story to aware you- to aware you of all the dark creatures that roam our Earth, and the good. It all began on the 24th of August, first day of 8th grade, the beginning of a new start, and possibly new friends…

Chapter 1- The New Strangers

It was an ominous cloudy day in Chicago. I was just beginning to get ready for school. You can just imagine all the emotions that filled inside me. Excitement- for I was going to see my friends, Nerves- that plastered my heart that I'd forget my supplies or possibly even my clothes! And let's not forget Fear- fear on who I'd get stuck seating with for a good majority of the year! *sigh* "There's really no point in moping around my room." I spoke out loud. I took one last look at me poster filled room, and walked downstairs to the kitchen. "Morning ma" I took a seat at the breakfast bar and took a bite of toast. "Hey sweetie- are you ready for your first day?" "In a way. It's just; the boys make school so annoying. They really have no clue when to shut their mouths up."

"It's always been the same mija, boys will be surely boys!" "Yea I guess so. Well, I should be on my way now. I wanna get there early." "Okay hun, have a great day!" She kissed me on the forehead as I grabbed my bag. "Bye!" "And be have!" She added as I closed the door behind me. Ahhhh parents! The street I lived in was named Irving. It was a small quiet street. You hardly hear kids around or anybody at all. The neighbors just kept to themselves. I strolled around the corner towards my school. Ha- my school! It was a private school- you can imagine the rules there! Uniform, no jewelry, and some strict crude teachers. Teachers just didn't get us kids. Yea they were our age a long time ago, but back then- times were so different. They didn't have all these cool technology like in our generation. And we're supposedly "rude"- really? They make it seem like it's the worst thing in the world, hey we're not taking drugs or any of that, we're just openingly speaking our minds. My mind at this point- was completely full on how this year would be completely diffirent. I could just feel it.

At last I arrived. There was no one who passed me by, no cars, no nothing. I was used to that. But what I wasn't used to- were those two boys up ahead who were standing in the 8th grade line. One of the two looked nicer and sweet, the other, looked like a straight up bad boy. I had to admit though- he was cute. I kept my eyes on the floor, avoiding the two. But it didn't actually work. The one that looked like a bad boy turned around and spoke directly to me.

"Hey, what grade are you in?" His voice was a captivating deep one. Not so deep like he sounded like a grown man; but a clear crisp voice. I tore my eyes from the floor and locked glances with him. My eyes had a mega feast! His eyes were a deep deep deep brown, and his smile was a sincere gentle one despite his bad boy look. He also had those vampire teeth that girls always died for.

"Uhh 8th grade you?"  
>"Yea us too." He looked towards his friend.<p>

"Soo...I'm Steve Leonard." He said sticking out his hand. I shook it, and was about to speak, but my mind went blank. I don't mean I couldn't find words to say, I meant literally BLANK. I felt like I was carried into a dazed dream- I saw small glimpses of what seemed like a war- two boys were facing each other- blood splattered their shirts- revenge filled their eyes. I could sense desperate cries of men and women all around me. Somehow I was the center of it all- Could this be an insight into the future? Could this be what MY future has in store?


	2. Chapter 2 Desk Hunt

**Chapter 2- Desk Hunt**

I came back to reality right away. My head was pounding hard and I was a bit dizzy.

"You alright?" Steve asked.

"Yea..." I laughed awkwardly so he wouldn't get suspicious.

"Okay then…" He said walking away. He stood where his friend was and they both looked back at me talking and laughing. Just great- what a nice first impression.

"Mirandaaaaa!" I looked up at the street ahead. I could just make out my friend Becca running towards the school, her backpack swinging back and forth behind her. I laughed as I saw her almost trip. At last she stood panting next to me.

"I….you…Hi." She managed to say.

"Hey Becca." I smiled.

"Phew- that's my exercise for the day!" She had noticed the two boys standing a distance away and asked me about them.

"Hey, who are they?" She asked tilting her ahead towards them.

"Well one of them is named Steve, and the other – I have no idea."  
>"Are they in our class?"<p>

"Yea,"

"GOOD! " She grinned.

"Why?"

"Because they're cute! We don't have any good looking boys here. It's about time they started coming."

"Wow." I laughed. I sure hoped though that she didn't make any moves on Steve...he was all mine ;)

7:50 slowly rolled in… all my old classmates were already in line. Not a lot of them had changed. Just some of the boys-. A few had grown a lot surprisingly.

"Alright 8th grade, let's all walk in quietly." Ms. Dells announced. She was a pretty good principal actually. Despite all her absurd rules on no jewelry or pants for girls, but she was a friendly women. She has wisped back blonde messy hair, and thick black glasses. We all walked upstairs. I noticed that our school office was painted a salmon bright color… it didn't look right. It felt like that was Professor Umbridge's office in Hogwarts! :D Anyway- I arrived at my new classroom- 801. My new homeroom teacher's name would be Ms. Bonds. In my eyes, Ms. Bonds was practically the best teacher in the school. Of course she had that strict demanding side to her, but she also had a "cool humorous" side that some teachers lacked.

"Good morning!" Ms. Bonds greeted us. She had on a long flowery brown skirt, and a white cream shirt.

"Your names are on top of the desks, so find your seat and wait for further instructions." We all scattered in different directions to find where we sat. My heart pounded fierce fully against my shirt. "Please not someone I hate...please not someone I hate…" I pleaded in my head. Desk by desk I searched. I came to the last desk in the back- there my name was neatly printed in black bold letters. Next to me desk, was another name. Darren Shan. The name really didn't register in my head until I remembered there were two new boys. Darren was obviously Steve's shy friend. Guess that wasn't THAT bad. I placed my backpack on top and took a seat. Darren found his name a couple minutes later. He slowly took a seat next to me.

"Hi." I spoke to Darren

"Hey." He shyly smiled.

"So your names Darren?"

" Yea." He peered over at my desk. "And yours Miranda?"

"Mhmm."

"Cool." He responded and looked away. Darren's voice compared to Steve's was softer and light. It wasn't even that deep.

"Okay 8th grade- today as you know is a half day."  
>"Half day?" Nattalie exclaimed.<p>

"Yes." Ms. Bonds responded.

"Oh- can I go call my mom then?" Nattalie said.

How forgetful we kids are…: D Ms. Bonds just went on talking on different projects that we would do, and that she thinks we were all great students, and she introduced Darren & Steve too. I looked around the room as she spoke. Steve was next to Kaitlin. I wish he was next to me…


	3. Chapter 3 The Flyer

Chapter 3 – **The Flyer**

I tore my eyes away from Kaitlin and Steve; they really looked like they were enjoying themselves.

"What do we take for switching classes?"

"Um Science, Math, Social Studies, and English." I replied to Darren.

"All that?" He groaned.

"Wait till High school …!." I myself got my books prepared to switch. That was pretty lame. Our first day of school and we had to switch right away!

"Alright 8th grade- you may switch." The last few words that Ms. Bonds spoke were inaudible because all the class went zooming by in to the hallways. I was one of the last kids out. Darren, Steve, and I that is. I silently walked out of the room, not even looking up. I brushed past Steve on the way; he was busy balancing a big pile of books on his arms. I was used to the big pile already. This was my second year in this school. I was formally going to a much larger school named Pastings. It wasn't far from here. My mother thought it would be best if I went to Catholic school my last two years because it would give me a better education. I walked carefully over to room 212- Ms. Marsha's room. She taught us Social Studies and English. Ms. Marsha wasn't one of my favorite teachers. She had short peppered hair and was rather on the XXL size. She could be the funniest teacher at times, but on certain days, if she didn't eat any chocolate, she turned into this monstrous Hulk. Her way of punishing us would be turning on Italian Opera- and her famous threatening words would be –"Be quiet or you all get a detention" Detention this, Detention that. I entered into the smelly 6th grade room. My class was silently waiting in the back of the room to be seated. It was actually surprising how silent they all were.

"Maribel, why are we all so-?" I hadn't even finished my sentence when I was cut off by a threatening roar. Well it sounded like a roar to me. Could you guess who it was? Ms. Marsha…

"Frank-! Up here next to me." She pointed to a small desk right in front of her own.

"Vicente! - "She pointed to an even smaller desk in the corner of the room.

Miguel!-" She pointed to a desk behind Frank. You could probably guess why she sat these boys near her. They were those boys that couldn't keep their mouths shut for one second. I mean they were really funny and all that, it was just that they couldn't control their talking, that's all.

"Miranda!" I gulped. Please not next to any of them… Please not next to one of them… "That last desk in the back." I silently cheered in my head and walked over to my new seat.

"Uhm let's see…What's your name?" She asked Steve

"Steve Leopard…I mean Leonard."

"Leopard or whatever your name is, next to Miranda" Oh crap. He strode over next to me and took a seat.

"Hi." He smiled.

"Hey…" I responded not looking at him.

"I'm lucky I sit next to you. You can show me how things work around here." Show you how things work around here? Who do you think I am…your slave?

"Sure, anytime. But Kaitlin's been here longer…" I said. Perhaps he would admit that he liked her…

"Nah, I'd rather have you show me." Hmm… Perhaps I did have a soft spot for a certain Leopard..

"Take out your orange books and work on the Diagnostics Test" Ms. Marsha sat down on her enormous desk chair and un-wrapped a piece of Hershey's chocolate. I took out my book and started on my work. I've always been what you can call "a nerd" Always listening to the teachers and acting like if I was a complete angel. That was my strategy that is. I got on the good side of everyone, so I could use them later on. Like let's say I forgot my homework, they'd say just to hand it in the next day. The benefits of being a teacher's pet was awesome. I don't know why kids teased you about it- they should try it themselves sometime.

"The definition of vital…" I read in my head.

*ruffling of papers*

"Hey Miranda, take a look at this!" Steve jammed a piece of green paper in my nose. I grabbed it and read it. It was a flyer advertising some sort of traveling circus. There was a picture of a wolf's head at the top. The wolf had its mouth open and saliva was dripping from its teeth. At the bottom were pictures of a spider and a snake, and they looked vicious too. Just beneath the wolf, in big red capital letters, were the words:

**CIRQUE DU FREAK**

Underneath that, I smaller writing:

FOR ONE WEEK ONLY- CIRQUE DU FREAK

SIVE AND SEERSE- THE TWISTING TWINS!

THE SNAKE-BOY! THE WOLF-MAN! GERTHA TEETH!

LARTEN CREPSLEY AND HIS PERFORMING SPIDER MADAM OCTA!

ALEXANDER RIBS! THE BEARDED LADY!

HANS HANDS!

RHAMUS TWOBELLIES- WORLD'S FATTEST MAN!

Beneath all that was an address where you could buy tickets and find out where the show was playing. And right at the bottom, jut above the pictures of the snake and spider:

NOT FOR THE FAINTHEARTED!

SOME RESTRICTIONS APPLY!

"Cirque Du Freak?" I muttered to myself. Cirque was French for circus… Circus of Freaks! Was this a freak show? It looked like it. I began reading the flyer again, immersed in the drawings and descriptions of the performers. Only a sick minded person would want to go to one of these. And plus, weren't they illegal?

"Where'd you get this?" I asked Steve.

"From one of my friend's brother. It's supposed to be a wicked show."

"They're illegal, how would you get in?" I said handing the flyer back.

"I have people…" I stared at him and turned away. What was I doing wasting my time with his guy? Freak shows were plain out Freaky…only freaks would go to one. I laughed at that- hahaa…yes I laugh at my own little jokes. But a question burned inside my head, why would Steve show me the flyer? Guess I would have to ask,

"And why exactly did you show me that?" I pointed to the flyer.

"Well…" He licked his lips nervously. "Cuz I thought maybe you'd want to go with me and Darren. I saw you were reading a book on were wolf and vampires… and I thought maybe you were like me…" Like him? What exactly did he mean by like him? I peered behind my pile of books to see if Ms. Marsha was busy. She was still eating, so I wouldn't be noticed if I talked or not.

"Like you?" I asked looking at Steve.

"Yea. Adventurous, curious, horror maniac?" He smiled. I closed my orange book and turned towards Steve.

"Adventurous…? I n a way. Curious…? Kinda. Horror Maniac…? Not so much. So I guess I'm not really like you."

"You like Vampires?" Did I like Vampires? Did I like Vampires? Vampires I would say was part of my life. Since I was little I loved vampires. My first movie involving them was The Little Vampire. I dreamed on being one all my life. When times were tough, when my parents got on my nerves, I would fantasize on my little made up world. Sometimes I thought I was crazy. Sometimes my thoughts took control of me- sometimes I wasn't just myself. I felt like if I was being maneuvered like a puppet. Vampires and Wizards was my way of disconnecting from the cruel world and becoming an immortal all powerful creature.

"Vampires are my life." I responded. "Without them… I think I would be a depressed , low self-esteemed girl"

Steve gave me this look. It was a look that a long time best friend would give to their friend. As in they understood one another and knew exactly what the other was going through. I barely had met Steve today. Perhaps destiny had brought us together? Destiny…how right I was. Destiny was a cruel savage monster. How I wished I'd knew back then when I first met Steve..


	4. Chapter 4 Walking Home

"You serious?" Steve grinned.

"Yea, I love vampires."  
>"That's great, cuz so do I. I guess we have that much in common huh?"<p>

"I guess so…" I tapped my pen nervously on the edge of my desk.

"So how about it? Do you wanna go with Darren and me?" He asked me excitedly. I really couldn't believe it. I thought it over fastly in my head. It would be taking a serious risk, and I wasn't the type who did that kind of stuff.

"C'mon please," he begged.

"Alright, then. I'll go with you guys."

"You will! YES!" He said punching the air. "You'll have a great time with me- I mean us."  
>"Hope so, "I smiled back.<p>

"Out of my class!" Ms. Marsha yelled. You could tell she really didn't like us.

I grabbed my books and left the room.

The day went by really fast. I had Math and Science right after Ms. Marsha, then Lunch, and homeroom classes. I couldn't pay attention the whole day. The images of the snake, wolf man, and spider flashed in my mind like a stuck video. I couldn't wait to go to the show.

The end of the day came by extremely fast. I parted my ways with my friends and headed home.

"Hey wait up Miranda!" Steve yelled from behind. I stopped and waited for him to catch up.

"Where do you live?"

"What's it to you?"

"I live by the train tracks," He said without notice of what I had said.

"Yea, me too."  
>"So Friday is the show, at 12 midnight. I'll come by your place and you can ride on my bike to the place." He spoke as we began to walk<p>

"Midnight?" I exclaimed.

"Yea, is that a problem? Are you… SCARED?" He taunted

"No, I just. That's fine." I covered up. He smirked. God that smirk was so annoying.

"I'll pay for your ticket, you don't have to worry about the money."  
>"Okay."<p>

"And be ready by 11:30, we want to get there early to get good seats."

"Mhmm." I spoke without looking up. I sorta wanted to back out of the plan when Steve told me the show was at midnight. Midnight was one of the creepiest times of the whole day. Who knows what kind of creatures roam around in the pitch black darkness?

"So… Who is this Miranda?" He said trying to make conversation. That's the thing with me; I didn't know how to keep a good conversation going. I'd much rather sit back and enjoy other people talk.

"Uhm, well I'm an only child, I like writing, I'm pretty much a nerd, and I hate rude ignorant people who think they're so cool"

"I'm not one of those people right?"

I laughed at his remark, "No, you're not...well not yet…"

"Don't worry; I won't get ton your bad side. I'm pretty sure we're going to be very good friends." He flashed me a winning smile that made my insides flutter.

"SO... who's this Steve Leonard?"

He sighed and began his story that really got to me. This story was the main motive why I began to "relate to the Leopard."


	5. Chapter 5 Steve's Tale

**Chapter 5: Steve's Tale**

"I'm the only child as well. I live with only my mother, because…. Well because my dad left when I was really young. I haven't seen him since I was 4. He told me and my mother that he ….. That he didn't want us. I don't get along well with my mother. She's always pressuring me, she wants me to be better than my dad, and to get a job and maybe go to the military. I don't want to though. I can't stand being in the same room with her for a second. That's why I'm moving out when I'm 18. Then we moved here… "His eyes trailed off

"My dad grew up here… I don't know why my mom brought us here, but she did. She says I'll do better in a catholic school. I doubt it though. My reputation goes around anywhere I go. I'm feared and despised by mostly everyone. Except for Darren. We've been friends since kindergarten. I guess he was drawn to my wildness." He looked at me. I nodded to tell him I was listening.

"My mom took me to a lot of counselors who supposedly where to help me control my anger issues. It was a bunch of bullshit. Each one thought I was mentally disturbed because I rambled on how I'd wanted to be a vampire when I grew up. I learned to shut my mouth after that." I questioned in my mind if befriending Steve was such a good idea.

"I hate my life actually. If it weren't for Darren, I wouldn't have a point to live. I feel like I'm all alone, like this life isn't mine." He sniffled.

"Don't say that Steve. " I said grabbing his hand. He squeezed it and held it tight as we continued walking.

"It's the truth; I don't have anyone but Darren. What were to happen if he… well died? I'd much better off be dead."

"No- I mean. You have me. I can be your friend. We could be really close, that is if you want to?" I suggested. All this talk about death and loneliness had gotten the best of me. I was always one to soften up for sad stories like Steve's. And plus, it was a great way of knowing him… even better ;)

"You mean it? You'll be my friend?"

"Yes, without a doubt"  
>"Thanks, not a lot of people take that risk. They think I'll get them in trouble, or influence them to do crazy things." He laughed.<p>

"I can make my own decisions. I don't think you can influence me if you even try." I smiled. We arrived at my house and it was time to depart from my new friend.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow in the morning. We can walk to school from here."

"That sounds great. I'll see you then." I said.

"Okay…" You could fell the awkwardness in the air. Would we depart in a simple wave of the hand? A hug? A, kiss?

I thought it would just be a wave, but ended up being surprised by a kiss! I turned around to open my door, but-

"Hey Miranda… umm" Steve looked down but walked closer to me. His lips were just a few inches apart from mine. "Bye." He whispered. And kissed me sweetly on the cheek. He walked off, not even looking back. "Bye…" I replied after he was a distance away. I went inside my home, and squealed silently to myself. Steve was an amazing guy!


End file.
